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  • RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT

Flying squirrels are secretly pink

Forest ecologist stumbles across a New World gliding rodent that glows rosé in ultraviolet light.
Flying squirrel under visible light and UV light

A museum specimen of Humboldt’s flying squirrel looks brown under white light but fluoresces bubble-gum pink under ultraviolet light. Credit: A. M. Kohler et al./J. Mammal.

Nature is more colourful than most of us realize. Many plants and animals have been found to sport dazzling fluorescent patterns that are visible only under ultraviolet light.

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Nature 566, 10 (2019)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-019-00307-6

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